Kumar Awanish appointed as COO of Cheil South West Asia, to Lead Group’s Strategy

Cheil South West Asia appoints Kumar Awanish as COO to lead digital transformation and integrate AI-driven strategies across its creative and media operations.

Cheil South West Asia (SWA) recently announced the promotion of Kumar Awanish from Chief Growth Officer to the company’s COO. He will be based at the agency’s Gurugram office and report to President and CEO, Sungkyoon Kim. The new role would witness him oversee the group’s operational strategy and support the company’s next phase of development. Also, Awanish’s responsibilities would now include contributing to the agency’s ongoing digital transformation by helping to integrate technology and data more closely. This would be in line with the firm’s creative capabilities to deliver to its clients practical and future-oriented solutions.

Furthermore, Kumar Awanish will transition to the COO position on the back of his over two decades of experience in advertising and marketing. During this period, he has been keenly involved with technology, data, and brand-led growth initiatives. He is well-versed with both agency and client-side roles, being a strong driver of transformation and business performance. He has worked with companies such as Airtel, Snapdeal, Times Internet, GroupM, and Oppo prior to leading a team of more than 100 specialists in his current role as the Chief Growth Officer at Cheil India. 

Moreover, expressing confidence and optimism in his abilities, President and CEO Sungkyoon Kim describes Awanish as a passionate individual having the right skill set and experience to lead the group into this “dynamic journey.” Awanish, on his part, highlights the company’s mission to expand AI literacy across all functions and group agencies for empowering people to use AI for efficiency and as a “catalyst for human ingenuity”. In his words, “By blending advanced capabilities with human ingenuity, we are architecting the future of Cheil SWA. This evolution is strengthened by the reunion of media and creative, ensuring that an agency of our scale remains agile and delivers the holistic, full-funnel impact our clients deserve.” Given his proven credentials, CIO Bulletin concurs with the management’s decision to elevate him as the group’s COO.